Why the US can’t quit its wars

A US military helicopter flying over Kabul, Afghanistan, in this file photo. The country’s longest war came to an end exactly five years ago. — Jim Huylebroek/The New York Times

FOR much of the Afghanistan War, the only thing harder for the United States than winning was quitting.

The country’s longest war ended in chaos and defeat five years ago. Hundreds of thousands of Afghans, desperate to escape the Taliban, swarmed the Kabul airport. Thirteen US troops died there in a suicide bombing.